Search - La Kumpania Zelwer :: Daissa

Much has been made of America being a melting pot, but modern musicians around the globe are proving America isn't the only place where ethnicity becomes blurred. On the spectacular Daissa, French bandleader Jean-Marc Zelwer composes material rooted in Gypsy music, but he also references other styles like Indian, Yiddish, and Breton, presenting each song with the fun and drama of circus music or street theater. (Not surprisingly, he regularly writes for and works in theater.) With help from a versatile eight-piece band, Zelwer builds a beautiful holistic sound using such traditional instruments as accordion and tuba as well as exotic ones like glass xylophone and nyckelharpa. The results are never more compelling than on "Lekhayim," where the Gypsy violin soars, nor more surreal and imaginative than on the Indian music-meets-cabaret of "Balagan." Daissa is a wide-ranging musical adventure: one filled with romance, a sense of history and, not least, an enchanting joy. --Tad Hendrickson